What Makes Her Beautiful
by Darkened Shadows
Summary: I was listening to "What Makes You Beautiful" and this kind of blossomed from that. It's kind of a birthday fic to myself, even though my b-day was about a month and a half ago. Ran/Aka, of course. Just a day at the skating rink. No particular point in the timeline.


**Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi. The lyrics of "What Makes You Beautiful" belong to One Direction.**

**Author's Note: Okay, I originally started writing this on my birthday, July 1st, well over a month ago and then it got set aside in favor of other stories. So, I pushed myself to finish it... finally. As such, the flow might be kind of off. If it is, gomen na! If not, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

_Baby you light up my world like nobody else,  
__The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,  
__But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,  
__You don't know,  
__You don't know you're beautiful,  
__If only you saw what I can see,  
__You'll understand why I want you so desperately,  
__Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,  
__You don't know,  
__You don't know you're beautiful,  
__That's what makes you beautiful_

_- One Direction, "What Makes You Beautiful"_

* * *

It was boring.

That's what Ranma thought as he looked around the ice rink. This place didn't have the best of memories, a flash of his "first kiss" causing his mood to sour further. Of course, it was all his own stupid fault. He had been feeling good and somehow he had gotten wrangled into promising Akane that they could do whatever she wanted today.

That's what he got for letting his guard down, yeah?

Despite his initial instinct to backpedal and thus get a mallet to the face in the process, Nabiki had managed to get him to hold to this promise. Threatening to double his debt, which had reached a considerable amount over the Christmas holiday, was enough to lock down his complaints for a little while.

Personally, he didn't get it. He knew it was Akane's birthday but Pops hadn't ever put significance in any kind of holiday and had always been hard-pressed to even remember the day that Ranma had been born. But it was apparently a big deal, especially for Akane as both the baby of the family and the heir of the Tendo school of Anything Goes Martial Arts.

The ice rink? Really?

Ranma wouldn't think that Akane would ever want to come back here. After all, it was here that the challenge was made and she had very nearly lost her "precious P-Chan" for good. Frowning when he noticed that his hands had fisted, Ranma stopped his thought loop and willed his hands to uncurl.

Hmm, that was weird. Probably the thought of that stupid Mikado.

As for the birthday girl herself, Akane was on the ice, helping a little girl learn how to skate. Now that was something he never got. She could be so nice and sweet, really the epitome of thoughtful, and Ranma could clearly see how she and Kasumi were related. Other times, wham with the bokken or mallet or kick of doom.

Kawaiikune to the extreme.

But now, here in the quiet of this day, unhindered by the problems of surplus fiancées and rivals that wouldn't quit, he could admit (if only to himself) why Akane's would-be suitors rivaled his own. She was amazingly pretty and kind and compassionate when you weren't pressing exactly the wrong buttons. Maybe it was those reasons that he couldn't seem to let go of her, either.

"Ranma!"

He had apparently gotten lost in thought again because Akane was skating toward him, waving happily. The smile that could melt his insides and turn his world upside down was comfortable on her face and he found that he no longer felt resentful about being here.

As long as she was happy.

_Where did that thought come from?_ But he wasn't able to trace the thought to the origin because she was there now, talking about… skating. "No," he said automatically, cringing visibly of the memory of how god-awful clumsy he was on ice skates.

Akane would not be dissuaded, though. She cajoled and pleaded until he finally caved and traded out his shoes for the ice skates that he'd been forced to rent when they'd walked in. "Why are you so adamant about this?"

"Ooh, big word," she rejoined with a teasing giggle. His face darkened with a forming insult but she had already pulled him onto the ice and his full concentration was needed there. "Come on, I wanted to really teach you how."

"What do you mean? I know how to skate!"

"Really?" She abruptly let go of the firm grip she had on his hands and it made him realize that it had been Akane, her rhythm and confidence, that had him feeling okay about the skating thing. Without her hands guiding him, he kind of trailed off in a wavering line and fell about two seconds before he would have hit the wall.

"Akane! That was so uncute!" Ranma called out, struggling to his feet. When he thought he have found purchase on the ice, he was proved clearly wrong by the following slam to his back.

"Oh, I know," she said, ice scraping slightly as she came to a stop beside him. "Uncute and brutish and what have you." She knelt down, oddly comfortable and secure in the odd position while Ranma couldn't even stand. Gripping him under the arms firmly, she brought them both to their feet. "You can't bring me down today, Ranma."

"How can you be so good at this?" he grumbled softly.

She just laughed, that tinkling sound of merriment. "Trust me, I'm not." Slowly skating backward, she got them back to an easy rhythm. "Come on, you use your feet too much. It's all in the hips and legs. Watch me."

Ranma's eyes trailed to the muscle groups she mentioned and immediately blushed. He noticed that she was wearing a short skirt and leggings today, the same type of outfit she wore the last time she went skating if memory served. To cover the feelings that had brought heat to his face, he immediately scowled. "How could I have forgotten how to do this?"

Akane laughed again, a giggle made of fluff and sunshine. "That's easy." When she didn't clarify, his scowl only deepened.

"What do you mean by that?" he snapped sharply.

If he had been looking at her face instead of her legs in a conscious effort to mimic her movements, he would have noticed her smile slip, just by the smallest fraction, and likely kicked himself for making her unhappy on her birthday, of all days. But he wasn't, so he didn't. For her part, Akane forced her smile to be that much brighter and answered him as calmly as she dared. "You never learned."

This accusation caused him to actually look her in the eyes. "Hey! I learned how to skate! How do you think we beat the 'Golden Pair'?" he inquired, mocking Mikado and Asuza with as much derision as his voice would allow.

"Yes, yes," she continued in a dismissively airy voice. "We all know you can do anything as long as the martial arts connotation is right there. But when that's taken away…" She trailed off, shaking her head slowly. Then she gazed at him with those eyes that he couldn't say no to, the golden brown of her eyes like liquid honey and shimmering with sincerity. "Don't you want to do something that's not about a battle?"

It didn't matter what she asked, he thought. He would do anything because he was lost in those eyes. "O-okay."

Akane's grin blossomed across her face, dazzling with its beauty, making Ranma realize that she hadn't been really happy all day. At least, not until he had agreed to join her. For once in his time in Nerima, he was glad she had no clue how beautiful she really was. If she did, he would have a lot more competition and holding onto her while keeping her at arm's length would become several times harder.

Besides, how dangerous could she potentially become if she could pull that smile out at will?


End file.
